Of Mortal Dread and Sapphires
by QuietHermione
Summary: A girl starts her first year at Hogwarts, along with her brother and two of her friends. However, she soon discovers that her time at Hogwarts is not at all what she thought it'd be. Rated for safety. I stink at summaries.
1. Running From Home

Hi everyone! This is technically my second story, but it's my first story where I have to use actual creativity. So please be nice, read and review. If you do not review…. I will be OK. I'll only cry a little.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter; he belongs to the brilliant and wonderful J.K. Rowling.

* * *

**Of Mortal Dread and Sapphires**

**Chapter 1**

**Running from Home**

It was a cool summer's night on the night of June 24, 1995. Usually, there's no activity this late at night. At 11:55 p.m., normally the only thing people would be doing was sleeping. Of course, that was not the case. Suddenly, from nowhere, a purple three-decker bus stopped in the middle of the streets of London.

The doors swung open and a very small, young girl stepped out shakily, carrying two large duffel bags (one red, one faded pink), a black suitcase & a light blue backpack. A boy who was obviously related to her immediately followed her. He was carrying similar luggage to his sister's, only his duffel bags were dark green and orange, his suitcase was brown & his backpack was black. The girl silently nodded in thanks to the driver and the bus took off. They were all alone now.

The girl quietly lay down all her luggage and sat down on her suitcase. Her brother followed suit.

"It's freezing out here." The boy, whose name was Kevin, looked sideways at the girl next to him. "Lilly, do you know why we're here?" His sister didn't respond.

"Lilly? Lillianna Graham!" he said. The girl called Lilly jumped at the use of her full name, and then mutely shook her head.

The best way anybody could describe this girl was pale; she had china-white skin, light, wavy ginger hair that went to the middle of her back & was put in two ponytails. The only thing about her that wasn't pale were her eyes-sharp, piercing sapphire blue, they were very noticeable compared to the rest of her body.

Her brother was exactly like her, but his hair was much shorter. These two children were fraternal twins, but surprisingly, not many people thought that they were twins. Probably because they were boy-girl twins, and when you hear that two siblings are twins, most people expected two boys or two girls. Or maybe it was because Kevin was outgoing, loud, and a definite extrovert, while Lilly was the exact opposite. Still, you'd think that because they looked alike people would at least get the hint.

For what seemed like ages, they sat and stared, trying to remember how they got here. It seemed so long ago, everything was so confusing and the details were fuzzy.

Lilly remembered most of the details, as she was in the room when almost everything happened. It all happened so fast….

Only a few hours ago, Lilly's mother had received a letter from a tawny owl. That was a bad sign, because her family rarely received mail by owl, despite the fact that they were pureblood. The Grahams had been trying to live like Muggles for about twenty years now, long before Lilly and Kevin were born. They continued that lifestyle even after You-Know-Who's downfall, because they always knew he'd come back someday.

Then when the letter was opened, her mother looked terrified. "Oh my goodness…. It couldn't be…." Her mother said. When her father took the letter, he looked almost as scared and pale as his wife.

Lilly knew that was _never_ good. When she shyly asked what was wrong, her parents wouldn't tell her much. All they said was that something terrible has happened, and that they all needed to get out of the house.

Lilly needed to pack her bags, take her brother, and go. Her parents also said that everyone needed to separate until the time was right.

Her mother gave the bewildered and frightened girl a piece of paper that said what she and Kevin were supposed to do along with a bag of money.

After that, all she clearly remembered was her family splitting up into different groups, then looking back and watching her house be destroyed. Lilly also remembered sticking out her right hand and hopping on something called 'The Knight Bus' (which she would never ride again, if she could help it).

And now she was here, in the streets of London, very late at night. Lilly still wished she could have the full reason for why she and Kevin had to leave.

Kevin remembered very little, compared to his sister. Of course,_ his_ memory was very selective.

What he remembered was that he was in his room trying to figure out how to make a really good Dungbomb when Lilly came bursting in staying that he needs to pack everything because they're running away. She looked so serious and scared that he decided he shouldn't argue.

He then remembered Lilly explaining something to him. Something about them being in danger, but he wasn't sure. He was never sure about anything.

Then he remembered his parents hugging him & Lilly, whispering, "We'll see each other again soon, I promise," and it was around then when he realized how serious the situation was.

He remembered running to keep up with his sister, saw his family going their separate ways (his parents in one, his oldest siblings in another, his next older siblings in another, and himself and his sister), and his house getting destroyed, which he was amazed by-he always loved explosions.

He also remembered riding a really cool purple triple-decker bus, which was so much fun. Now he was on the streets, with only a vague idea of how he and his Lilly got here.

Lilly looked at her watch again and realized that it was fifteen minutes past midnight. It was now June 25-she, along with her twin, was now eleven years old. Yet, she was not very excited that it was her birthday. In fact, she had completely forgotten that she had a birthday.

_Then again,_ she thought, _when you're running away from home without a clue where you're going or if you'll see your family again, it's kind of hard to be happy about something silly like your birthday. _

There was something else as well; why did she get this feeling that just hours ago, something very horrible had happened?

_Obviously, you would get that feeling, _Lilly thought. _You just ran away from home. _

_But this is something different! _Another voice rang in Lilly's ear. _Something worse!_

_Just stop it._

She tried to shake off this feeling and looked at the paper her mother had given her.

_Stick out your dominant hand to flag the Knight Bus. Give the conductor a Galleon and __thirteen Sickles from the money I have given you, and request to go to the Leaky Cauldron. Go to Tom, the innkeeper, and ask for a couple of rooms. Please destroy this note once you have completed these instructions._

_I cannot wait until we can be united again,_

_Your mother._

"Can I please borrow one of your fireworks?" Lilly asked her brother. It was the first time she had spoken since saying goodbye to her parents, and her voice sounded like a croak. Kevin handed her a firework. _Better destroy it now, I already memorized everything on it, _she thought. Just to make sure, though, she turned the paper over.

_I do not know when we will be reunited again, but please make no attempt to look for us until either your seventeenth birthdays or until You-Know-Who is destroyed for good._

Lilly sighed. So, they were supposed to stay apart for at least six years? That seemed like an eternity for her.

She couldn't think. Lilly ripped up the small piece of paper in half, then in quarters, then eighths, then sixteenths, until it was nothing but a bunch of confetti. The poor girl walked into a dark alley, and threw the confetti on the ground, but before she could light the firework, every single piece of ripped paper spontaneously ignited, making her jump in shock. She stared at the charred paper, curling up as it was engulfed in flame.

Lilly walked back to where her brother was and sat back down on her suitcase. Kevin seemed unaware of anything again, and was now working on making a firework.

"Well, we can't stay on the sidewalks forever," she told Kevin. "Let's go find this place." They picked up all their pieces of luggage and set off through London.

The twins stopped in front of a sign that said "The Leaky Cauldron". Timidly, the girl knocked softly on the door. There was no answer. She was about to turn around and walk off when the door opened to reveal a bald man with no teeth.

"Good evening, miss. What can I do for you at this time of night?"

"Excuse me, sir." Lilly was very nervous. "I'm Lillianna Graham-but people call me Lilly. This is my brother, Kevin Graham. We're twins. We'd like a place to stay, please."

"How long will you be staying?" the man asked. Lilly's stomach tightened; she hoped they could afford to stay long enough.

"I… I don't know, sir," she replied weakly, for that was a truthful answer. "At least six years, I think." She handed the man her bag of money.

"This is all we have, sir," she mumbled.

The old man smiled and said, "Call me Tom. Come in, come in. Rooms 21 & 22 are free."

"Thank you so much!" Lilly gasped, as she and her brother hurried inside.

The pub was small, dark and fairly dingy, but it will have to do. Tom the barman enchanted Lilly and Kevin's luggage to float upstairs.

"Welcome to the Leaky Cauldron, miss," said Tom, bowing as the twins walked to their rooms.

* * *

I will stop here for now. So please review! I want to know what everyone thinks of my "actual" work. No flames until the fourth chapter is up, please! 


	2. New Friends and Letters

All right, everyone, now I'm going to introduce two new characters. As a result, my point of view might be changing a bit at times. I'll try not to mess the point of views up (like switching from 3rd person to 2nd person, etc), but I am definitely not perfect. So please let me know if I'm doing OK or if I need to fix some things!

ThymeWaster: Thanks for the one review. I'll try to make the chapters better!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, and I DEFINITELY do not own the Hogwarts acceptance letter. Or any acceptance letter of any kind.

* * *

**Chapter 2**

**New Friends and Letters**

Lilly woke up to way too much sunlight. She groaned slightly and wondered if she should sleep for just a few more minutes. Judging by the sunlight, she decided not too.

She got up and rummaged in her suitcase for some good clothes. Lilly and her brother have been living in this place for almost a month now.

Lilly was putting on her jeans when she remembered she needed something. Absent mindedly, she pulled out a small red silk bag. In that bag contained some of her most precious possessions. She dumped all the contents; out fell a wooden flute, a tiny vial full of clear liquid, a bright red phoenix feather quill, and a necklace. It was a very pretty necklace; the stone was a round sapphire about the size of her palm, with a chain of diamonds and some sort of bird etched into the stone.

Lilly had a special kind of fondness for the necklace, but she never quite admitted this fact to her parents. Actually, she never admitted this to anyone, because no one in her family knew she even had this necklace.

None of the Grahams would ever admit it, but her mother's side of the family was a shady bunch. Her mother's uncle twice removed was especially dreadful, and was taken to Azkaban about three years before Lilly was born. Lilly never met the man, and whenever her mother had to mention him, she only referred to him as "Mortal Dread". Lilly always persisted what his real name was, but she never succeeded.

Lilly also had a cousin named Calicifer who was very big in black market deals in Knockturn Alley. As a result, he had many things that weren't very honorable.

Calicifer claimed that he did not steal that necklace, but since he also said it wasn't his, nobody really believed him. He was taken to Azkaban for some especially shady business, but as he was dragged away, he yelled that no one should touch the necklace, that he and his somebody else had orders to guard it.

Of course, the Grahams ignored him and within a few days of Calicifer's arrest, they prepared to burn down his house and most of his belongings. But Lilly always loved that necklace, so before her family got rid of everything, she snuck into the house and stole the necklace.

Lilly was surprised at how easy it was to steal it; the way her cousin went on about it, she figured it had all sorts of enchantments protecting it. Lilly had only been to Calicifer's house twice, but the necklace always remained etched in her mind.

Lilly had never stolen anything before, but this was a special case. Of all the claims her cousin made about this special piece of jewelry, one claim really stuck with her. She had to know if it was true.

_There you go, daydreaming again and thinking about the past,_ Lilly told herself. _You need to finish getting dressed, and quit it. _

Now Lilly put on the necklace to see if it matched everything else she was wearing. She was wearing jeans, a white T-shirt with red short sleeves and a red star on it, and her ponytails were put in place with blue ponytail holders. The necklace looked good, as least, as good as it ever will on her. Lilly was actually quite pretty, but she never thought so.

Lilly walked out of her room and went over to the door next to hers. She knocked a strange sort of pattern on the door.

"Hey, big brother, it's time to get up." Kevin sometimes reminded Lilly that he was exactly a minute and a half older than she was; she never liked that, especially since he acted like the younger twin, but right now, she was just concerned with getting him up.

There wasn't a single sound in the room. Lilly knocked again.

"C'mon, Kevin, you need to eat breakfast. And what did you do to those numbers?!" Lilly just noticed that one of the 2's was upside down, so her brother was no longer in Room 22, he was in Room…. Well, something else, Lilly wasn't even sure anymore.

Kevin still wouldn't wake up. Lilly forgot that her brother was a deep sleeper and that if an atom bomb dropped nearby he wouldn't wake up. Well, then again, maybe he would. He always loved explosions, fireworks, and other kinds of practical chaos.

"Fine, be that way." Lilly stalked off to her room, and returned to her brother's door, this time with her wooden flute. Lilly took a deep breath and blew hard, hitting the highest note she possibly could on the flute. There was a yell from inside his room, and then a thud.

"There we go," she muttered. Lilly listened to the bangs, crashes, grunts, and other miscellaneous noises that came from Kevin's room. Within a few minutes, Kevin came bursting out of his room, wearing jeans and a wrinkled dark green T-shirt.

"It's about time!" Lilly said impatiently. Kevin looked slightly ashamed, and then ran back in his room to get something.

"What is that?" Lilly asked, puzzled. The thing her brother was holding looked like a foul smelling firework with mothballs all over it.

"It's my new Stink-Work! Like it?"

"Uh…. I don't really know." Lilly said politely. She tried to avoid the other people who stayed at the Leaky Cauldron; her shyness always got it the way of things.

"Hey", said a voice behind her. Lilly jumped, and tried to tell herself that it wasn't for her. Then she realized that the voice actually was addressing her.

Lilly turned around and was face-to-face with a girl & a boy about her own age. The girl was slightly taller than she was; her hair was the color of dark chocolate and had a bunch of purple butterfly clips in it. She was wearing a lilac-colored T-shirt, faded jeans, and her eyes were a light shade of violet.

"Hi", she said rather timidly. She really didn't like meeting new people, and this girl had a kind of harshness in her voice that she found quite intimidating.

"I'm Rebecca. Rebecca Fisher," she said, with a somewhat softer tone now.

"I'm Lillianna Graham. But most people call me Lilly. It's easier that way," she added, starting to relax a little bit.

"Lilly? That a… interesting name," Rebecca replied. Then she realized how rude that sounded. "I mean, it's a nice name, just-"

"When you hear my name you instantly think of Lily Potter. Yeah, I know, don't worry, I get that sometimes," she said. "Just remember that I'm Lilly with two 'L's."

"Ok, can do. And just remember that I'm Rebecca spelled the normal way," said Rebecca, grinning.

The boy just behind her was about similar height to her brother, had dark reddish-brown hair and was odd eyed; his right eye was light brown, the other was warm grey. He was wearing khaki pants, a navy blue T-shirt & a friendly smile.

"Hi, I'm Lilly," she said shyly.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Richard," he said warmly. "And personally, _I _think your name is very pretty."

Lilly was so stunned she wasn't sure what to say about that; she often had a hard time accepting compliments, especially since she never used her name and the word "pretty" in the same sentence.

"T-T-T-Th-th-th-"

"I think what my sister is trying to say is 'Thank you'", Kevin chimed in, while his sister blushed. It was remarkable, despite her having such pale skin, how red her face got when she was embarrassed.

"Well, she's very welcome," said Richard.

"I'm Kevin Graham!" Kevin said cheerfully.

Richard nodded politely. Rebecca smiled in almost a strained way and said "Pleasure to meet you."

"My brother's a little… intense at times." Lilly explained.

"Anyway, what are we doing standing around here?" asked Rebecca impatiently. "Let's go downstairs and eat something."

"Wicked!" Kevin said excitedly.

"Sounds good to me." Richard said, still smiling at Lilly.

Lilly blushed at Richard's stare, then said timidly, "Okay, sure."

"Great! Then what are we waiting for? Let's go down."

They all headed downstairs, with Kevin banging down the stairs. When they got down, they ordered some food. Rebecca had an English muffin, Richard had a crumpet and Kevin ordered a huge order of bangers and mash.

Lilly quietly spread some orange marmalade on her toast, her brother was talking with Richard, and Rebecca was reading a newspaper that had the words _Daily Prophet _on the front page. After a few minutes, Rebecca made an angry noise from behind the paper.

"What is it?" Lilly asked.

"Oh, nothing." But the tone of her voice clearly said it was not 'nothing'.

"Please, don't you want to tell us?" Lilly asked again.

"Oh, all right. I can never keep a secret long, anyway."

Rebecca slammed the paper down angrily. "I should warn you, though; I tend to get angry pretty easily about things that are no big deal to most people. But sure, I'll tell you. It just this piece of crap that calls itself a paper made _another _Harry Potter jab, and they poked fun at Dumbledore, too."

"How to you know they're lying?" asked Richard uncertainly. Rebecca gave him a murderous glare, her eyes flashing. "I mean," Richard continued, "Sure, they might be exaggerating a little bit about Dumbledore, but how do you know for sure that this Harry Potter is telling the truth about- "

"He is telling the truth because Dumbledore believes him. End of story."

"If you say so", Richard muttered. "You shouldn't try to argue with Rebecca, as least, not if you can help it." He explained to the twins.

"Wait-what?" said Lilly. "Will someone please tell me what's going on?"

"Haven't you been reading the _Prophet_ lately?" asked Rebecca. Lilly shook her head. "Well… For a while now, the _Daily Prophet _has been making jokes about Harry Potter and Dumbledore. You do know who Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore are, right?"

"Yeah, we're purebloods," said Lilly

"Okay. Well, the _Prophet_ has basically been saying that Harry is going mad, and Dumbledore is cracked too, which is just a bunch of rubbish. Dumbledore is the greatest wizard that ever existed. And how can Harry be going mad?"

"Why do they think he is?" asked Lilly.

"Because Harry claimed that he saw You-Know-Who come back. I think it started about a month ago, and I'm pretty sure it was the…24th of June when Harry said You-Know-Who came back. Well, I'm positive it's true. He was bound to come back, and I'll bet those stupid cowards are just to afraid to accept the truth, those flobberworms-"

Rebecca kept going on, ranting and raving, while Richard played with his breakfast uncomfortably. However, Lilly was hardly paying attention anymore.

June 24-her birthday. That also happened to be the day that she and her brother ran away from home, the day they were forced to be separated.

Lilly remembered the horrible feeling she got, the feeling that something bad has happened, but she had been so sure that it was the fact that she was in danger. Now, however, Lilly wasn't so sure….

Her thoughts were interrupted by a large owl flying through a window that Tom opened. It glided thorough, and landed on their table. The owl had four identical letters, all with the same seal.

"What's this?" asked Richard.

"I think I know what these are," said Rebecca in a hushed voice.

They all took a letter; Lilly taking the one addressed _Miss L. Graham, Room 21, The Leaky Cauldron, London _and opened it. When she finished reading it the first time, she read it again several more times to make sure it was true.

_Dear Miss Graham,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of _

_Witchcraft and Wizardry. Enclosed is a list of school supplies. Term starts on September _

_1. We await your owl no later than July 31._

Lilly was going to Hogwarts. Her grandmother told her all sorts of stories about Hogwarts before she moved to France last year. Ever since she heard her grandmother's stories, she longed to go there.

In all the confusion Lilly had gone through, she had completely forgotten that she was now the proper age to go to the Wizarding School. Now, it was happening. She was going to Hogwarts.

She looked up and saw the owl that delivered the letters was gone. Lilly looked around as if the owl was hiding under a table or something.

"I sent the owl back saying that we'd all like to attend Hogwarts and we'll see them on September 1," Rebecca explained. "With the help of this idiot who claims he's your brother, we took your stunned silence and amazed expression as a sign that you wanted to go. Were we right?"

"Yes, yes you were." Lilly laughed very quietly, still not quite believing what was going on.

"Great." Rebecca said, smiling. "Then we should buy our stuff tomorrow. I've been to Diagon Alley before, so I can lead the whole lot of you."

"Brilliant." Lilly decided that she needed to be alone, even from her new friends. "Well, I'm gonna go upstairs now."

"See you, Lilly." Richard waved.

"Bye." She got up as if in a trance, still reading the letter.

Lilly walked up the stairs, reached her room, and closed the door behind her. When she was sure no one else was around, she jumped up in happiness, squealed and fell backwards on her bed.

It was now official. She knew that if her family knew about this, they'd be proud, especially her grandmother. She, Lilly Graham, was going to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

**

* * *

**

Did I mention that I like to write LONG chapters? Guess it slipped my mind. Oops….

If you like long chapters: Show your appreciation and please review! If you don't like long chapters: Review anyway! Please.


	3. Shopping Diagonally

Here's another chapter and a really lame excuse for a plot. I apologize for that, I kind of came up with the "plot" last minute, so it's not exactly good. Neither is this chapter, but then again, I'm just plain critical of myself anyways. Thanks to the two people who review this story!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, if I did, I'd be filthy rich.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

**Shopping Diagonally**

At 7:30 a.m., the alarm clock on Lilly's beside table went off. She hit it and got dressed in record time. Today Lilly, Richard, Rebecca and Kevin were going to buy their school supplies for Hogwarts. Lilly shivered with excitement at the thought. She left her room to wake up Kevin, but soon realized there was no need.

Kevin was being thrown out of his room, closely followed by Rebecca, who had a cricket stick in front of her. She held it out threateningly and Kevin ran downstairs like a coward.

"You carry a cricket stick with you?" Lilly asked disbelievingly.

"No," Rebecca threw it in Kevin's room, "Your brother does. I just stole it from him."

"How come I never noticed that?" Lilly muttered.

"But anyway," Rebecca continued, "I figured you shouldn't have to wake him up, at least, not today."

"Gee, thanks." Lilly smiled at Rebecca, who left to go downstairs. Then Lilly noticed that today Rebecca was wearing two blue barrettes. Lilly wondered how many different hairstyles Rebecca comes up with.

"Ready to go?" Lilly looked behind her to see Richard. He had his list with him and a small bag in his left hand. "Hey, you look nice."

Lilly looked out at the black T-shirt she was wearing and said shyly "Thanks". She then looked at Richard and noticed his long-sleeved T-shirt was maroon.

"Um… You look nice too." Lilly blushed, not looking at him.

"Hey, it's not a complete crime to like maroon, is it?" Richard asked good-naturedly.

"No, it's not," Lilly said, relieved that Richard wasn't mad. "Are you even capable of being angry?"

"Sure I am. Just shove me in a closet. Then I'll get angry at you."

Lilly laughed nervously as they reached Rebecca and Kevin.

"About time, you two! Hurry up so we can go!" Rebecca watched Lilly and Richard like a hawk as they ate their porridge. "All right, let's go."

The four of them walked to the back of the pub, with Kevin getting impatient.

"Question: Why are we going shopping diagonally? What's wrong with getting our stuff normally?"

"Kevin," Rebecca said through gritted teeth, "We're not buying things in a diagonal line. We are going to _Di-a-gon Al-ley_."

"Oh! Hey, why didn't you say so?"

Rebecca rolled her eyes and said to Lilly, "Is he always like this?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Lilly got her supplies list and followed the others.

Rebecca had taken a stick and tapped a brick. The brick wall parted and they walked into Diagon Alley. Kevin stood completely transfixed at everything, until Rebecca gave him a poke in the back. The foursome walked into the Gringotts bank and got out enough money for their supplies. Kevin had to walk through that particular place with his mouth covered (courtesy of Rebecca) because he said something rather rude about the goblins that ran the bank.

Next, they went to Madam Malkin's robe shop, then the Apothecary, and Olivander's, then about a dozen more stores that no one could remember the names. After they finished shopping at Flourish and Blotts (almost everyone's favorite store), they all stopped for a moment.

"All right, let's make sure we've got everything", said Richard. "Spell books?"

"Check."

"Wands?"

"Check."

"Joke shop items!" said Kevin.

"Mate, that's not on the list of things to buy", she said.

"Sure it is!" he said. "Where?" said Rebecca. Rummaging through his new bags, he grabbed his new quill and a pot of ink, and wrote the words "Joke shop items" on his list.

"See?" he said. "Right here, on _my _list, that is."

"Right. Fine, let's go."

"You lot go ahead," said Richard, "I'm going to Flourish and Blotts for a little while."

Lilly decided to linger behind the group. She was definitely enjoying Diagon Alley, and she was so lost in her own thoughts that she almost ran right into a short, plumb, red-haired woman.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, dear," the woman said.

"Oh, please, no, I'm sorry. It was my fault, really." Lilly stuttered, blushing. Then she noticed the woman was carrying even more packages than her, so in an effort to make things better, Lilly asked "Would you like me to carry anything for you?"

"No, I've got it, don't worry about it," said the woman kindly, and she left. Lilly still felt bad and wished she could've done something to help, but she had to catch up to the others, she found them just outside a joke shop.

When they stepped inside, she found it crowded with people. She almost ran straight into a black seventeen-year-old boy with dreadlocks.

"My goodness, it's certainly my day to run into people, isn't it?" she muttered to no one in particular.

"Wow, this place is amazing! Hey Lilly! Check these things out!" Clearly, Kevin was having a ball in this place.

Lilly, on the other hand, rolled her eyes and rummaged through her new bags, pulling out a book called _Basic Healing Spells and Potions_.

Lilly wasn't what you would call a bookworm, but this one caught her eye. She never told anyone except her brother, but her secret ambition was to become a Healer. Thanks to her brother, she's seen many gruesome accidents in her life and, though she didn't look it, she wasn't squeamish with blood in the slightest. She has also seen her parents perform healing spells on certain occasions when she was little, and wanted to do them herself for some time now.

She was just getting started on different ways to heal a cut when Kevin and Rebecca came over and announced they wanted to leave.

"That was absolutely brilliant!" said Kevin, who was carrying three enormous bags of joke shop products. Everyone else had many bags on their hands. Just then, Lilly spotted a toad. A few seconds later, an older looking boy with a round face came up. Lilly looked from the toad to the boy and put down all her shopping bags.

"Excuse me, is this your toad?" she asked, picking up the toad.

"Yes, it is. Thank you very much. Trevor always seems to get away from me."

"Sorry to hear it. And you're welcome."

"Right. Well," he looked at their bags, "I guess I'll see you at Hogwarts."

And the boy left before anybody could say anything else.

"We better go," said Rebecca, "Before that clown brother of yours wets himself with excitement."

Kevin looked up, got a strange look on his face, said "Clowns?" and ran off, eyes wide and fearful.

"What in the name of Merlin was that all about?" Rebecca asked as they walked back to the Leaky Cauldron.

"Oh, Kevin doesn't like clowns very much. Especially mimes," Lilly added, "He's deathly afraid of mimes. He had a bad experience with one at age four, and now he can't stand them."

"Lilly, you've got a strange brother," Rebecca stated.

"You can say that again," Richard puffed, having run all the way from Flourish and Blotts to catch up with them.

"Lilly, you've got a strange brother," Rebecca said again, grinning.

They all got to the Leaky Cauldron, and ordered sandwiches. Kevin was making the most noise of the group, attempting to show everyone his new merchandise and complaining that Rebecca ordered a grilled tuna sandwich.

"Why do you eat that stuff?" Kevin whined.

"I like tuna, OK? Is that a crime?" Rebecca asked.

"But it smells!"

"If you don't like it, fine. I'll order a watercress sandwich next time. And spread tuna all over your peanut butter and jelly."

"Ewwwww! Lil-ly," Kevin said, "Please stop her!"

"Hey, you're a wizard now, why don't you jinx her?" Lilly asked lazily, still reading her Healing book.

"I don't know any."

"Guess you're in trouble then," Lilly said. She turned the page, and was startled when a small piece of paper fell on the pages.

Lilly never received mail, let alone ever had a note dropped on her book. Frowning, she picked up the note and read it:

You have something that's belongs to me. Your family's separation may have protected you for now, but not for long. When your great second uncle escapes from Azkaban, you will be at the mercy of me.

Lilly stared at the note. Part of her wanted to laugh at how silly the note seemed; it was so much like an "I know where you live and I've come to get you" type. Yet she felt very uneasy about this at the same time. How did this person know what has happened to her? And what did this person want?

"Hey Lilly, are you OK?" Lilly looked up from her note and saw Rebecca's worried face, her violet eyes concerned.

"I…. I'm fine."

"Who's the note from?" Kevin asked through a mouthful of peanut butter and jelly sandwich; Rebecca looked revolted.

"I don't know," Lilly said quietly. She picked up her turkey sandwich and took a couple bites, even though she didn't have much of an appetite. She looked around at the people entering the Leaky Cauldron and saw a man with ginger hair and a smell of tobacco come in. She watched idly as he ordered a drink and left, tottering slightly.

Lilly cringed; that man reminded her of a strange criminal she met when she was seven. Unfortunately, she's met a lot of criminals in her lifetime.

A criminal. That seemed like the type of person who would write that note. It was only one note, and it was so short, but Lilly just had this feeling….

"I'm going to bed." Lilly announced abruptly.

"Already?" Rebecca looked at her as if she was insane. "It's only seven o clock!"

"Are you feeling all right, Lilly?" Richard looked a bit concerned.

"Yes, of course. I'm just tired.

"But-"

"See you all tomorrow!" Lilly said too brightly, and hurried to her room. She had to be alone.

Lilly lay on her bed, tired and confused. She was very disturbed by that note, and she wanted to get to the bottom of it. However, she decided she'll worry about it in the morning.

Lilly went to bed, only to be haunted by strange dreams and disturbing nightmares.

**

* * *

**

All right everyone, I'm going to set a quiz: How many "familiar" HP characters did you spot in this chapter? Here's a hint; there are four total. Winner gets some sort of "prize". And lots of praise for reviewing my story. : )


	4. Sorting, Midgets and String Beans

Hi all. Sorry it took me a little while to post.

The winner of the quiz from the previous chapter is: ThymeWaster, since she got the most right. You get a poster of my two cats! To everyone who reviewed, thanks for reviewing and you all get cookies!

The answer to that quiz: Molly Weasley, Lee Jordan, Neville Longbottom and Mundungus Fletcher. I kept going back and forth on whether to add him or not. Now I decided I probably shouldn't have added him Oh well….

EXTREMELY LONG CHAPTER WARNING. I know I could've split it up more, but I didn't want to.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, I don't own the Sorting Hat, I **don't** own the Sorting Hat's song, I don't own Ron's "midget" comment, I don't own Hermione's thing after that, I don't own…. Oh, let's face it. We all know I don't own anything related to Harry Potter. Please don't sue me.

**Chapter 4**

**Sorting, Midgets and String Beans**

**

* * *

**

Almost two months later, September 1 came around, and Lilly, Kevin, Richard and Rebecca were riding the Hogwarts Express. Rebecca decided to be the leader again, and showed the other three where to go and how to get through the barrier to Platform 9 ¾. That in itself was very eventful since Lilly and Richard were very skeptical about running into a brick wall and Kevin was disappointed that he went right through it.

"I mean, why did the wall have to disappear like that? It's fun to run into brick walls!" Kevin complained. The four of them were sitting in a compartment near the back of the train.

"You're more sick and twisted than I thought, mate." Rebecca moved sideways from Kevin as if afraid to catch something from him, then focused her attention on Lilly.

"So, Lil- is it OK if I call you that?"

"What-oh, sure."

"Right. Lil, you said you and Kevin are pureblood, right?"

"Yes, we are."

"Well… No offense, but I seem to be more familiar with the wizarding world than you do, and I'm only a half-blood."

"That's probably because my parents have been living as Muggles for many years."

"What?" Rebecca looked dumbfounded "You mean, as total Muggles? No magic at all?"

"No, not as total Muggles. They did use magic, but only when necessary. However, they didn't communicate by owl, for the most part, they cut themselves off from the wizarding world-my dad even quit his job as a Healer to become an accountant or something like that. And the fact that my older siblings were all Squibs helped conceal us as well."

"Wait-your siblings are all Squibs?" Rebecca now looked really interested. "How many siblings do you have?"

"Five, all older then me, only one female."

"Wow." Rebecca fiddled with her bracelet, then said "I have one older brother. I haven't seen him in forever though."

"Why?" Kevin asked.

"I'd rather not say." Now Rebecca looked quite uncomfortable. Sensing this, Richard spoke up.

"I have a younger brother and an older sister. My sister's Muggle, my parents are Muggle, and I don't know about my brother."

"Nice." Rebecca gave a thumbs-up, and then looked at Kevin with distaste. "What _are_ you doing?"

"Making a rocket-stink bomb," Kevin said without looking up from his firecracker and stink bomb contraption.

"Sorry I asked," muttered Rebecca. She finished her Cauldron Cake that she abandoned, and then turned back to Lilly.

"So, what was that note about? That whole 'Mortal Dread' thing? You really seem worried about that note and I want to know why."

Lilly's heart sank. She had only just forgotten about it, and was hoping to go a day without thinking about it. She couldn't figure out why this had become an obsession. Still, she couldn't ignore Rebecca's question. She seemed to have a talent for getting at least _some_ information from people.

"When I figure out why I'm so worried, I'll let you know. Right now, though…." Lilly hesitated. "All I have is a bad feeling about this. I don't want to think about it, okay?"

"Okay." Rebecca said skeptically. "If you say so. But I _will_ make you confess sometime in the near future."

"You got it." Lilly grinned and absent-mindedly played with her necklace. Before she knew it, the Hogwarts express slowed to a stop.

"Let's go." Even though Rebecca's voice seemed confident, there was a nervous edge to it. The foursome all pulled on their Hogwarts robes and joined the crowd of students leaving the train.

Lilly timidly moved through the crowd, dodging students. Then she heard a drawling voice over all the others.

"Hey, you pale little midget! Move along there! I am a prefect, and if you don't step aside, I'm going to put you in detention."

Lilly jumped sideways, and tried to move to the side. She looked up and saw a tall, fifteen-year-old blonde boy almost as pale as she was. He had a Slytherin prefect badge and was glaring at her.

"Malfoy, knock it off! You have no right to bully the first years like that!"

Lilly saw a girl with long, bushy brown hair glaring at the boy called Malfoy. The girl looked about the same age as Malfoy, only she had a Gryffindor prefect badge. Malfoy muttered something rather rude under his breath and sulked off.

"Sorry about that. Malfoy's a Slytherin, has no respect at all. But don't mind him, he shouldn't bother you. I'm Hermione Granger, by the way."

"I'm Lillianna Graham," Lilly squeaked.

"Nice to meet you," Hermione smiled encouragingly at Lily. "Well, I need to go, but if Malfoy is being a git towards you again, don't be afraid to tell me."

And Hermione hurried off. Lilly got out of the throng of students and met up with Richard. There was a yell from somewhere in the crowd and someone shouting "Move it!" All of a sudden, about three older boys were knocked to the ground and Rebecca came out of the crowd, panting slightly. She stalked toward Lilly and Richard.

"Hey, if niceties don't get you anywhere, brutal force works."

A few minutes later, Kevin ran toward them. He tried to explain to the others that he met two seventh-year twins who really seemed interested in his potential mischief making, but no one really listened. The four of them went toward the woman saying "First years, this way!" and followed her to the lake.

HP

A few moments later, all the first years were lined up in front of everybody in the Great Hall. The boat ride to the castle was quite eventful, since Kevin had tried to fall into the lake on purpose, making Rebecca smack him in the head. Then while the headmistress Professor McGonagall was telling them about the four Houses, Richard had to restrain Kevin from letting off a Dungbomb.

Now, they were in the Great Hall, with Kevin on Lilly's left, Richard on her right, and Rebecca next to Kevin. Kevin was whispering very quietly and excitedly under his breath and both girls were regretting standing next to him. All were staring at the faces of older students and the old black pointed hat on a three-legged stool, and it didn't take a genius to figure out who was the most nervous. Lilly was shaking almost as badly as Euan Abercrombie, a boy four spots to her left.

"I'm scared, I'm scared, I'm am so scared, oh what was I thinking, I can't do this-"

"Just relax, Lil', I'm sure-hey, what's the hat doing?"

For the hat had suddenly opened its rim and being to sing:

_In times of old when I was new_

_And Hogwarts barely started_

_The founders of our noble school_

_Thought never to be parted:_

_United by a common goal,_

_They had the selfsame yearning,_

_To make the world's best magic school_

_And pass along their learning._

"Hey, that is wicked." Kevin looked at the hat. "The hat is singing! I didn't know hats could sing. Did you know hats could sing? But what's he singing about? It all sounds like mumbo jumbo to me. Does it sound like it to you? Do you think I could make my hat sing? Think it would sing well?-"

"Please. Shut. Up." Lilly hissed.

"Yeah, I think he's getting to the important part anyways." Rebecca, who was on his other side, was getting more annoyed by the second.

_For instance, Slytherin_

_Took only pure-blood wizards_

_Of great cunning, just like him,_

_And only those of sharpest mind_

_Were taught by Ravenclaw_

_While the bravest and the boldest_

_Went to daring Gryffindor_

_Good Hufflepuff, she took the rest,_

_And taught them all she knew,_

_Thus the Houses and their founders_

_Retained friendships firm and true._

"Aww, isn't that sweet. But wait, what is he saying? That basically-"

"Slytherin is for those that are cunning, Ravenclaw is for those who are intelligent, Gryffindor is for those who are brave and Hufflepuff… I guess Hufflepuff is for wimps." Rebecca said all this in a very fast whisper.

"Oh, great, thanks. So I'll be in Ravenclaw then!" Kevin beamed.

"No way! The chances of you being a Ravenclaw are as good as me flying to the moon!"

"Oh, you're flying to the moon? When?"

"No! What I'm saying is-you'd be more suited for Hufflepuff."

"So you're saying I'm not smart, you're saying I'm-"

"A wimp!"

"Oh. Hey, that's not nice. I'm not a wimp."

"Deal with it, and yes, you are." Rebecca hissed.

"No I'm not, and what?" Kevin answered back.

"Forget it. Let's just say you'll be a Hufflepuff."

"But I don't want to be a Hufflepuff!"

"Too bad."

As Kevin and Rebecca continued to argue back and forth in a fierce whisper, Lilly tried to concentrate on the Sorting Hat's song. It was very difficult, since she could not ignore the stampeding butterflies in her stomach. _Funny,_ Lilly thought, _I didn't even think butterflies could stampede until now._

Lilly lightly smacked Kevin to shut him up. She was amazed no one noticed Rebecca and her brother fighting. Once again, Lilly attempted to listen to the rest of the song:

_And now the Sorting Hat is here_

_And you all know the score:_

_I sort you into Houses_

_Because that is what I'm for,_

_But this year I'll go further,_

_Listen closely to my song:_

_Though condemned I am to split you_

_Still I worry that it's wrong,_

_Though I must fulfill my duty_

_And must quarter every year_

_Still I wonder whether sorting_

_May not bring the end I fear._

_Oh, know the perils, read the signs,_

_The warning history shows,_

_For our Hogwarts is in danger _

_From external, deadly foes_

_And we must unite inside her_

_Or we'll crumble from within_

_I have told you, I have warned you…_

_Let the Sorting now begin._

"Hogwarts is in danger?" Lilly whispered as she applauded with the rest of the school. "But-from what?"

"Beats me. Hey, that wimpy guy is getting sorted!"

"You mean, Euan." Lilly corrected.

"Whatever."

They all waited, and Euan was made a Gryffindor. A few more people were sorted, and then "Davis, Andrew" was made a Hufflepuff.

"Fisher, Rebecca."

Rebecca walked up to the stool only a little bit nervously. She sat down and placed the hat on her head. After only fifteen seconds (according to Lilly's watch), the hat shouted:

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Rebecca ran over to the Gryffindor table, looking rather pleased with herself. A couple more people were sorted. Slowly, the line of first years was decreasing.

"Graham, Kevin", said Professor McGonagall.

Kevin went up and almost tripped over himself. It took almost a minute, but the Sorting Hat finally shouted "GRYFFINDOR!" Kevin went down to join the Gryffindor table. Rebecca shook her head in amazement and mouthed to Lilly "I was so sure he'd be a Hufflepuff."

"Graham, Lillianna", was the next name on the list. Lilly slowly went up to the stool, shaking from head to foot. With some difficulty, she lifted the Sorting Hat off the stool, sat down and shakily placed the Hat on her head.

_Well,_ said a tiny voice in her ear; she practically jumped when she heard it. _There is quite a bit of potential here. Plenty of talent… An excellent mind…Cool nerve… Fear of failure and taking charge… But courage nonetheless…_ _I know exactly what to do with you. _GRYFFINDOR!

Lilly took off the Hat, very relieved and somewhat confused. The Sorting Hat said that she had courage, and Gryffindor _was_ for those who are brave, but she didn't consider herself brave at all. Still, she reasoned, Gryffindor is better than Slytherin. Lilly shyly walked over to the table that was applauding her. On her way over to sit next to her brother, she caught sight of an older boy. He had messy black hair, round glasses; and (she drew a sharp breath when she saw this) he had a lightning bolt scar on his forehead.

_This must be Harry Potter! _She thought. She quickened her pace to get to her seat. She didn't believe the _Prophet_'s rumors that Harry was mad-at least, she didn't _think _she believed them-but that didn't stop her from being very nervous.

Lilly finally reached her friends & brother, and took a seat. She also noticed that just a few places down were a couple of red haired twin boys who looked like they were in their seventh year.

"Lilly, see those guys?" Kevin pointed to the redhead twins. "That's Fred and George Weasley! Apparently, they're very well known for being trouble makers at Hogwarts, and they're talking about starting their own joke shop! And they talked to me!" Kevin shivered in excitement. Rebecca gave Lilly a look that clearly read, "This could be trouble." Lilly nodded in agreement and turned to watch the Sorting.

"Graystone, Richard."

After thirty seconds, Richard became a Gryffindor. He quickly walked over to where Lilly was and sat down.

"Well how about that, mates? We're all in the same house!"

"Yeah, unfortunately," Rebecca said, looking sideways with disgust at Kevin, who had just put bubble gum in his mouth and was chewing it very loudly.

HP

"Hey-hey you lot! Midgets!"

Lilly quickly looked up. She had just finished a wonderful feast and had sat through an incredibly dull speech by that Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Umbridge. At least, Lilly thought that was the woman's name. Kevin was making a lot of noise during Dumbledore's announcements, so she found it hard to concentrate.

And now she could've sworn one of the prefects just called her a midget. _Well, I am puny, _she thought.

"Did that red-head, freckle-face, big nosed string bean just call me a midget?!" Rebecca was outraged. "Let me at him, I am going to get hold of him and-"

"First years! This way, please."

This voice belonged to the other Gryffindor prefect, the fifth year girl named Hermione. Lilly walked over to the prefects, trying not to be the leader. Actually, she realized, none of her friends were trying to be the leader. Not even Rebecca, which was strange.

"Why would I want to be the leader? I don't want to be responsible for leading the first years headfirst into a toilet. Besides, the prefects will show us where to go." Rebecca answered Lilly's questioning look under her breath.

"You can be very extreme sometimes," muttered Lilly. "I know," Rebecca grinned.

As they walked up the staircases following the prefects, Lilly asked Euan Abercrombie what it was that his friend told him. But before Euan could answer, Rebecca cut in.

"Look, you git, we all know you were talking about Harry Potter, we all know what the Idiotic Prophet thinks about him, and do you know what? We don't care! So shut your big fat mouth before you get yourself into trouble, got it?"

"Okay." Euan said in a tiny, meek voice. Lilly thought she saw a mildly impressed expression cross the red-haired prefects face. They reached a portrait; Hermione said "Mimblus Mimbletonia!" and the portrait swung open. They all climbed in and (after direction from Hermione) went up to their rooms. As Lilly climbed into her red and green starred pajama bottoms, she got a whiff of a scent that was a combination between Christmas cookies and butter cream frosting. She turned around and saw Rebecca in purple pajamas lighting a candle.

"Hey, Rebecca, what's with the candle?" Lilly asked.

Rebecca put out the match, destroyed it with a spark from her wand and sighed. "Well, you might as well find out sooner or later…. You see, I'm kind of afraid of the dark."

"You? Afraid of the dark?" Lilly was stunned; Rebecca didn't seem afraid of anything, let alone the dark.

"Don't laugh! I had bad experiences with it when I was younger. If I have just a tiny bit of light around, I'm fine. But total darkness…." Rebecca shuddered. "I hate it. I also hate thunderstorms."

"Wow." Lilly pulled back her covers, and watched Rebecca do the same. Both girls climbed into bed.

"Well, good night."

"Good night."

And Lilly went to sleep, wondering what her first day of school would be like.

**

* * *

**

All right, I just want to say that I do not think Hufflepuffs are wimps. So if you like Hufflepuff, please don't kill me!

If you actually MADE IT to the end of this chapter…. I give you more cookies! Please review?


	5. First Week at School

This chapter is even longer than the last one! Sorry, everyone.

I also apologize for the lack of posting; life has been insanely busy. I am also taking a little bit of a different plot route. Don't worry, it's a lot like my original plan, so I won't have to change TOO much. I just won't have too much idea of where I'm going with this until Deathly Hallows comes out. So thanks for your patience and I appreciate the reviews!

Disclaimer: I don't own HP, and I don't own Emma, believe it or not (look up Book 4). And I don't own Wayne Hopkins; I actually think he also belongs to J.K. Rowling….

* * *

**Chapter 5**

**First Week at School**

Early the next morning, Lilly woke up quite suddenly. For a moment, she wondered for a moment why she woke up like this. After all, she didn't have an alarm or anything.

_Well,_ she thought, _I guess I had better get up._

As she sluggishly pushed herself up from the bed, she saw a pillow on top of her covers. Looking around, she saw Rebecca awake and half dressed. One look at her devilish grin told Lilly that Rebecca had thrown the pillow at her in order to wake her up.

"Didn't wake you up too early, did I?" Rebecca asked, still smiling.

"Nope." Lilly threw the pillow back at Rebecca. "What time is it?"

"Seven-thirty. I think our first class is at nine-o-clock. These idiots," Rebecca rolled her eyes and pointed at their still sleeping roommates, "are probably going to wake up at eight-thirty or so. Maybe later. But I couldn't let that happen to you."

"Gee, thanks, mate." Lilly rolled her eyes in return, pulled her uniform on, went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and readjusted her ponytails. She had left them in when she went to bed, and now her hair was a mess. She fixed her hair and tied red and yellow striped ribbons over the ponytail holders. Rebecca, who was just putting her hair into a fancy sort of braid tied with purple ribbon, stared at Lilly as she walked out of the bathroom.

"How can you sleep with those ponytails in?"

"It's not easy." Lilly headed for the door, and stared back incredulously at the three sleeping roommates. She stepped over the threshold and waited for Rebecca, who stepped out and slammed the door very loudly. Both girls hurried downstairs.

"Merlin's beard, we probably woke them all up!" Lilly stared at Rebecca with a rather scandalized. expression on her face.

"Yeah, right, they slept through our endless chattering, didn't they?" Rebecca shot back.

"How can you be such a morning person?" Lilly asked disbelievingly as they turned a corner.

"I'm not. I only function when I wake up myself. Anybody else wakes me up..." Rebecca trailed off and grinned devilishly, "It's not pretty."

'So if _you_ get up at crack of dawn by yourself you're fine, but if _I_ were to shake you to wake you up..."

"It'd be the last time you'd be able to do so." Rebecca grinned in a devilish sort of way.

"I can imagine," muttered Lilly, opening the doors to the Great Hall. There weren't many students since it was so early. Both girls picked bangers, toast, and eggs and started eating.

"Hey, when do we get our schedules?" Lilly asked after taking a bite out of her toast. "I want to see what the rest of the week looks like."

"I don't know, but I've got them anyway." Rebecca said through a mouthful of sausage.

"_What?!_"

"Yeah. Here you go." Rebecca swallowed her food and handed a schedule over to the astonished Lilly. Rebecca just looked at Lilly and said, "Don't ask how I got them. All that matters is that I have them. Why else would I get up _this_ early?"

"Good point." Lilly looked at the schedule; just looking at it made her excited. Today was Transfiguration and Potions, Tuesday was Herbology and Charms, Wednesday was History of Magic, Transfiguration and Astronomy, Thursday was Defense Against the Dark Arts and Herbology, and Friday was Charms.

"I can't wait!" Lilly squealed.

"You need to get a life." Rebecca replied, shaking her head slightly. "C'mon, let's go find the boys."

"Okay." But just as Lilly got up, an owl flew through the window and place a note in front of Lilly. Puzzled, she picked it up and read it:

_You cannot hide._

Lilly swiftly crumbled the note, stuffed it in a pocket in her robes and make a mental note to throw it in the Gryffindor fireplace later. She was sure it was nothing, but her stomach had an uneasy feeling….

"Probably a Slytherin prat playing a joke." Rebecca said when Lilly shared her thoughts. "Remind me to kill one of them later."

Lilly smiled weakly. "I will."

_See? It's just a Slytherin. Completely stupid,_ Lilly told herself. She followed Rebecca out of the Great Hall, up a flight of stairs and halted uneasily when Rebecca stopped. Lilly looked around and said, "Okay, Rebecca-where do we go?"

"Er…." Rebecca looked around. "I don't know. Wait here, I'll go find out."

Rebecca left and Lilly sunk down to the floor, waiting. Minute after minute passed with no sign of Rebecca anywhere. Finally, when it was only five minutes to nine, Lilly pulled out her Healing Book and wand. She was quite fond of her wand: ebony and phoenix feather, seven inches. It was quite attractive and gave Lilly a glowing-type feeling.

Trying to shake her nerves about possibly being late, Lilly focused on her book. Just looking at the incantations made her long to try them out.

_Well, why not try it out?_ An usually reckless little voice spoke in her ear. Normally Lilly would push a voice like that to the back of her brain. But not this time.

Tentatively looking around to make sure no one was watching, she set down her book and wand and quickly scanned her hands; she found a tiny scratch on the ring finger of her right hand.

She picked up her wand with her left hand (despite the fact that this was her non-dominant hand), cleared her throat and whispered the incantation.

To her incredible amazement, the scratch started to shrink and before Lilly could even blink, the scratch was completely gone.

Lilly stared at her now healed finger. In her wildest imagination, she would never have guessed this. Lilly had never made sparks admit from her wand before, yet she had just cast a spell correctly on her first try. Not just any spell, but a _Healing spell_. Lilly couldn't believe it.

"How did you do that?" Lilly jerked her head up to see Rebecca looking at her with incredulity.

"I-er-ah-I'm not sure." Lilly squeaked out meekly.

"Anyway, I figured out how to get to Transfiguration. We have to hurry, though-we have two minutes before class starts!"

Lilly wasted no time. She jammed everything into her bag at record speed, and followed at Rebecca's heels. After turning a couple corners, they flew into the Transfiguration classroom, miraculously, on time. The classroom was pretty full, but Rebecca spotted a couple of seats that weren't too far from each other. To their surprise, Richard was already there, as well as Kevin, though he was sleeping on his desk. The girls were sure they would be even more lost than they were

"When did you lot get here?" Rebecca asked, surprised, as she slid into an empty seat three desks away from Richard.

"Five minutes ago; we asked Hermione Granger the instant she was alone. We didn't want to ask her in front of…." Richard didn't finish the sentence.

"Why didn't we do that?" Rebecca muttered, her voice having a harsh edge to it. Lilly merely shrugged in response as Professor McGonagall walked into the room.

HP

"Hey, Kevin? Kevin? Helloooo! Earth calling Kevin!"

It was a few days after the four friends survived their first lessons, and Kevin, Lilly and Richard were in the Great Hall. Kevin had abandoned his meal (a first for him) to work on another Stink bomb-Filibuster Firework contraption. The other two were trying to see if they could break his concentration, but so far, it wasn't working. All of a sudden, a bang from the door announced Rebecca's presence and she marched over to the Gryffindor table.

"Stupid Slytherin idiots." Rebecca slammed her book bag down by her feet. "I can't believe how full of themselves they are. No wait, I can't believe it! The first years are especially annoying. Eleven year olds are so immature."

"Rebecca? _You_ are eleven. We're _all_ eleven." Lilly reminded the fuming girl.

"And that Draco Malfoy is horrible! His whole snot-nosed pureblood demeanor, his prefect-ness…." Rebecca paused for a moment to growl. "Luckily, he wasn't smiling after that welt he got on his wrist." She smiled and gulped down some pumpkin juice.

"Wait…." Richard looked up from his sandwich and stared at Rebecca as if she was losing it. "You didn't jinx him, did you?"

"No. Do you think I'm an idiot? I only tried to."

"Rebecca!"

"Hey, he didn't see me. Though he did see me when I called him a selfish, rotten, jerky snoot, so he might have figured out that it was me-"

"Rebecca, please don't tell me you told him that!" Lilly interrupted.

"Of course I did. Now don't tell me that I was wrong. I'm glad I yelled at him and I'd do it again in a minute no matter how many detentions he gives me. And stop messing with that thing, you lump!" Rebecca suddenly turned on Kevin and smacked him in the face.

"W-what?"

"C'mon, we need to go!" Rebecca crawled under the table, came up on Kevin's side and started dragging Kevin by the scruff of his neck.

"Rebecca, don't you want to eat?" Richard gestured toward Rebecca's empty plate as he and Lilly followed the other two.

"No, I'm not hungry. Slytherins ruin my appetite." Rebecca stomped toward the door, bringing a protesting Kevin with her.

Lilly sighed and ran to catch up with her friends. But in doing so, she ran smacked dab into a fifth-year boy.

"Hey-watch it, you first year!"

"Sorry, didn't see you." Lilly squeaked. She looked a bit more carefully; the boy was tall, had wavy, light brown hair, and three freckles on his right cheek. He also looked slightly menacing.

"Whatever." The boy sauntered off in a huff, leaving Lilly alone in the entrance hall.

"Who is that?" she muttered to herself.

"Oh, that person? He's Wayne Hopkins." Lilly looked up and saw a girl right in front of her. She looked about a year older than Lilly was and she had light brown hair that fell past her shoulders.

"He's actually pretty nice once you get to know him, he just doesn't know how to act around first years."

"Brilliant. That makes me feel so much better."

"Don't feel bad. It'll get better. I'm Emma, by the way. Emma Dobbs."

"Lillianna." Lilly muttered to her feet. Ever since she was five and she found out who shared her name (sort of), she had always been paranoid about what she calls herself.

"Wicked. It's nice to meet you. Listen, I need to go, but I'll see you later." And she hurried off.

Lilly stood there for a moment, and then ran at top speed up a flight of stairs, almost running into Neville Longbottom. Amazingly, she didn't have any trouble finding Rebecca, Richard and Kevin. Then again, Kevin's yells made it easier.

"What took you so long?" Rebecca remarked as Lilly skidded to a halt, nearing falling into a nearby suit of armor.

"Rude boy." Lilly gasped.

"Ah. Boys are yicky." Rebecca made a face. "Except for you, Richard. You're actually pretty cool, even if you are a little boring at times."

"Thanks. At least, I _think_ I appreiciate the...er, 'compliment'." Richard said skeptically.

"Hey!" Kevin demanded, looking at Rebecca in a challenging way. "What about me?"

"You are yicky, so shut up."

"That wasn't nice," Kevin mumbled, but Rebecca pulled out her schedule and ignored him.

"All right, what class do we have again?" Lilly asked, now that she had caught her breath.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts. Should be interesting, huh?"

"Oh yeah, sure." Richard said sarcastically. "After what I've heard about it, I'm _really_ looked forward it. Well, we better go." The four of them walked towards the Defense classroom, Rebecca leading the way. Miraculously, Rebecca was able to lead the others to the room without getting lost.

"Are you lot thinking what I'm thinking?" Rebecca asked as they stood near the doorway.

"Whatever it is, no." Lilly replied.

"You know how Harry Potter yelled at Umbridge, said he saw You-Know-Who come back and fought him?"

"Yes…." Lilly said tensely. The story was all around the school, but it was often an uncomfortable subject amongst the four of them; Rebecca admired, even applauded Harry for sticking to his guns and talking back at Umbridge, Richard was now more convinced that Harry was mad, Lilly was torn between the two, and Kevin just thought it was cool that Harry got in trouble.

"Well, I think someday we should give Umbridge even more hell than Harry gave her."

"That's a little harsh, isn't it?" Lilly asked nervously.

"No." Rebecca said simply.

The four fell silent as all the first years walked into the classroom where Professor Umbridge was sitting. Well, _most _of the first years walked in, anyway. Kevin's walk was more of a military march, complete with phony saluting to Umbridge as he took his seat, causing a few people to giggle apprehensively.

"You have to admit, that was pretty excellent," Rebecca murmured cheerfully to Lilly as the two girls found desks next to each other. Lilly nodded edgily. Fortunately, if Umbridge noticed anything, she didn't show it. At least, not at the moment.

"Good morning, class!"

"Good morning, Professor Umbridge!" Almost everyone had been forewarned in some way that Umbridge expected polite greetings. Of course, Kevin and Rebecca's greeting was more sarcastic, but both blended in well with everyone else.

"Oh, very good! Yes, you are certainly much better than my previous classes. _Horrible, _they were. Had no respect for me and did not know how to behave. Those half-breed teachers have messed with their minds. But of course you little first years are so good."

"What was that?" Once again, Rebecca was mad at being addressed like a five-year-old. She quickly shot Umbridge a burning look. "Oh, I'll show you how good we are..."

"Leave it." Lilly muttered as Umbridge started explaining her course aims.

"Will the five people who took their wands out please put them back?" Umbridge continued with her sweetly voice. Kevin and four other students put their wands back in their bags.

"You will kindly turn to 'Chapter one: Basics for Beginners'. There will be no need to talk."

Umbridge sank back in her chair, her toad-like smile across her face becoming quite irritating. There was a rustle of turning pages as all the first years turned to the appropriate chapter. After that, there was complete silence.

For about five minutes, that is. Then finally, Kevin blurted out "Boooooooorrrrrriiinnng!!!!"

Everyone in the room held their breath, wondering what will happen. Lilly smacked her forehead, embarassed once again by her brother. Umbridge, still smiling, walked over to his desk.

"I'm sorry dear, what did you say? Is everything all right?"

"I said 'Boooooooorrr-"

"I did not ask you to repeat it, Mr.…."

"Graham, lady."

"Mr. Graham. What I meant was that I was wondering what exactly you said and if everything was all right. And you will refer to me as 'Professor Umbridge', not 'lady'," Umbridge said sweetly, but in a sickening way.

"He said that this class is boring. Okay? No, everything is not all right, you fat toad, and in case you were wondering, your whole class sucks."

If the room was silent before, it was nothing compared to how silent it was after Rebecca spoke. She was glaring at Umbridge with so much venom that Lilly was amazed Umbridge didn't simply disappear into thin air.

Umbridge walked slowly from Kevin's desk straight to Rebecca's desk, her footsteps echoing in the silent room.

"And your name is, my dear?"

"Rebecca Fisher."

"Miss Fisher, I must say that you have the worst attitude of any one of my students. You could probably give that hot-headed Harry Potter a run for his Galleons."

"Good!" Rebecca stood up from her desk, her face only inches from Umbridge. "While we're on the subject, you have _got_ to ease up on Harry."

"It is not within your power to decide who gets 'eased up'."

"I don't care! Harry's gone through enough without you and every other idiot in the wizarding world ragging on him!"

"Miss Fisher, watch that tone!"

"I will watch that tone whenever I feel like it!"

"You will not talk to me like that! I am your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and I am from the Ministry of Magc! Mr. Potter needs to be stopped!"

"I will talk to you like that! Harry needs to be stopped from what? Telling the truth? You have to believe me, toad, he's not lying-I know when people are lying! You don't deserve the title of 'Professor'! Or to work in the Ministry of Magic! And as for what you teach…. Are you sure it's Defense _Against_ the Dark Arts? Are you sure you're not planning on making it_ for_ the Dark Arts?"

Rebecca's last remark hit way below the belt. Kevin stood up in his desk and started clapping like crazy. Everybody else, on the other hand, just stared at Rebecca, some with admiration, others with astonishment. Lilly had closed her eyes and grimaced. Richard held his book in front of his face and murmured "I can't watch."

Umbridge was completely rigid with fury. Finally, she blinked slowly and said in a deadly whisper, "Detention, Miss Fisher. And twenty points from Gryffindor. The same goes for the idiot boy who applauded your inexcusable insults."

"Oh, you haven't heard inexcusable yet." Rebecca said quietly, with a wild look in her violet eyes. "I've only just began. I don't care what you do to me, just leave Harry and anyone else who stands up to you alone."

With that final word, she spun on her heel and stalked off. One of the deadest silences ever in existence followed her exit. Umbridge stared at the door, and then decided to act as if nothing had happened.

"Please continue reading "Chapter One". There will be no need to talk."

"That was bloody brilliant, wasn't it?" Kevin asked Richard a bit too loud.

"_Hem, hem_."

"Sorry, lady."

"Mr. Graham, another ten points from Gryffindor. And ten points from the boy sitting next to you."

"What? I didn't do anything!" mouthed Richard.

Umbridge started to go back to her desk, but seemed to think better of it. She instead walked over to Lilly's desk, causing the girl to jump and sit straighter in her seat.

"What's your name, my dear?"

"Lillianna Graham."

"Well, Miss Graham, you seem like a very well behaved girl, unlike your brother and that obnoxious girl."

"Thank you, ma'am." Lilly whispered, her eyes staring at her lap.

_You idiot, she insulted your friend and brother!_ She thought to herself. _Say something!_

"Perhaps you can redeem this sorry class. Tell me, do you think that Miss Fisher deserves a whole month of detention and suspension for being completely out of line?"

Lilly was quiet for a moment. Her mind had a fierce battle on whether she should speak her mind or not. Finally, she raised her head, look at Umbridge straight in the eye, and said "No, ma'am. I agree with Rebecca one hundred percent."

Umbridge blinked in surprise, but soon recovered. "Five points from Gryffindor. I was wrong about you, Miss Graham."

With that, Umbridge walked back to her desk. Lilly, still stinging on the inside from her encounter with Umbridge, glanced at her watch. Even with all the outbursts, there was still an hour left in the class.

Lilly put her head on her desk in frustration. This was going to be a long day.

HP

Later that night, Lilly walked from the library over to Gryffindor tower. This was one of the few times since Hogwarts started that she was completely alone. Richard was still in the library studying (which made Kevin think he's insane), Kevin was going to try to put a Stinkbomb in Snape's office (which made Lilly think _he's_ insane), and none of them had seen Rebecca since she stormed out of Defense Against the Dark Arts. Miraculously, only the first and second years had talked about Rebecca's shouting match; it hadn't spread around school yet. But Lilly was sure it will...

"Mimblous Mimbletonia," Lilly said absent-mindedly. The portrait swung open and she climbed in.

Lilly decided to go upstairs; after a long week, she was completely beat. She_ really_ needed to get to bed. Exhausted, she idly looked into the fire.

Lilly quickly took a double take. Maybe her already tired mind that was playing tricks on her, maybe she needed glasses, but she could've sworn that she saw _a man's head in the fire_. But that couldn't have happened….

She didn't even want to think about it. Lilly climbed up the stairs and immediately climbed into bed. Only a few seconds later, though, the door slammed open. Rebecca was back from her detention and she was in a towering mood.

"Can you believe that old bat? Do you see what she did to me?"

Rebecca held out her hand. In the dim light, Lilly saw that Rebecca's hand was bleeding. She could make out words "I must not shout in class".

"And the way she talked to me! Dropping hints and insults that were supposed to be so subtle and-well-"

Rebecca made a noise similar to an angry cat. Lilly didn't say a word, but just listened to Rebecca's endless ranting as she wrapped a bandage around Rebecca's bleeding hand. As soon as she finished bandaging, Lilly yawned and interrupted Rebecca, "I'm sorry Umbridge made you angry. Really, I am. But I'm really tired right now; can we please save this for tomorrow?"

"Okay, sure. I'll never get to sleep otherwise." Rebecca threw herself into bed without bothering to put on her pajamas. "But once tomorrow hits, the complaints will never stop. I will go on about this for months, years! I am going to make Umbridge's life miserable if it's the last thing I do!"

* * *

Okay, this was **really** long-I'm sorry. I also apologize if I made any mistakes.

Well, I do rule on ONE thing: I posted this chapter on 07/07/07! Woohoo!

Please review! If you survived this pointless chapter.

Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention this last chapter: If you want to flame... I THINK I'm prepared. Maybe. Ish.


End file.
